Children play, birds call, and grown-ups go about their business during the hot days of summer in northern India. But in the bustle of the street and marketplace, everyone is watching, waiting for those magical clouds to bring their gift of rain to the land. Through the observations of one young girl, the scents and sounds, the dazzling colors, and the breathless anticipation of a parched cityscape are vividly evoked during the final days before the welcome arrival of the monsoon.

Rhythmic prose and vivid chalk pastels flood the senses and take the reader on a tour of diverse urban India.